Motion Picture Director. Born in Chicago, he was brought to Hollywood in 1915 by his uncle, Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle. From 1920 he directed over 50 westerns, many starring Art Acord and Hoot Gibson, as well as the serials "The Winning of the West" (1923) and "The Oregon Trail" (1923), and such melodramas as "The Thirteenth Juror" (1927), "The Drake Case" (1929), and "The Notorious Gentleman" (1935). Legendary filmmaker William Wyler started out as his assistant. One company executive described Laemmle as "a willing and ambitious director" but his surviving films show little more than competence. He floundered with talkies, and after appearing in the Laemmle-directed flop "The Texas Bad Man" (1932), cowboy star Tom Mix publicly declared he would never work at Universal again. Laemmle was kept on the job until April 2, 1936, when Uncle Carl and the entire Laemmle family were ousted from the studio in a hostile takeover. He died a year to the day later, having made no further films.
Motion Picture Director. Born in Chicago, he was brought to Hollywood in 1915 by his uncle, Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle. From 1920 he directed over 50 westerns, many starring Art Acord and Hoot Gibson, as well as the serials "The Winning of the West" (1923) and "The Oregon Trail" (1923), and such melodramas as "The Thirteenth Juror" (1927), "The Drake Case" (1929), and "The Notorious Gentleman" (1935). Legendary filmmaker William Wyler started out as his assistant. One company executive described Laemmle as "a willing and ambitious director" but his surviving films show little more than competence. He floundered with talkies, and after appearing in the Laemmle-directed flop "The Texas Bad Man" (1932), cowboy star Tom Mix publicly declared he would never work at Universal again. Laemmle was kept on the job until April 2, 1936, when Uncle Carl and the entire Laemmle family were ousted from the studio in a hostile takeover. He died a year to the day later, having made no further films.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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